The boy from Brazil - and Britain’s busiest foodbank
ARTWORK TO BE AUCTIONED FOR WEST END FOODBANK
NEWCASTLE United stars have donated “mini masterpieces” as part of an auction raising cash for Britain’s busiest foodbank.
Players including Christian Atsu, Paul Dummett, Martin Dubravka and Karl Darlow, and manager Rafa Benitez have all donated original works of art to raise money for Newcastle’s West End foodbank.
Each have autographed their work, with Rafa adding “mis mejores deseos”, which means “my best wishes” in Spanish.
The fundraiser is organised by the North East Art Collective, which asked artists and celebrities to donate an original 6”x6” work of art for auction. John Thompson, managing director of the North East Art Collective, which is based in Eldon Garden shopping centre, said: “We pick a charity every year, last year it was Rape Crisis North East and raised we £6,000 for them. “This year we are raising money for the Newcastle West End Foodbank. Because of the last blast of cold weather we heard they had ran out of many essentials, so it looked like a good charity to support.”
Along with the Newcastle stars, artists such as Kevin Day, Jeff Rowland, and Keith Proctor have donated their own mini masterpieces.
Members of group Franz Ferdinand have also donated art, as have the cartoonists from Viz magazine.
A number of people who use the foodbank are also involved in the charity auction, donating their own pictures to show their support.
Each piece of art is being sold as part of a silent auction, meaning each bid is placed in secret. As with normal auctions the highest bidder for each piece of art wins.
Each mini masterpiece has been placed on display within the North East Art Collective’s gallery in Eldon Gardens, so that members of the public can view the works before they try and buy one. Despite the large number of pieces already on display more celebrities are rumoured to be sending their original creations to the shop to help the charity.
Bids can be placed in person at the gallery until April 19. The artwork can also be viewed and bidded on through the gallery’s website, northeastartcollective.co.uk, until April 22.